Stop and search powers top police complaints, says report

Police stop-and-search powers are more likely to elicit complaint from black people and one in five of all complainants allege that the officers' actions amounted to racial discrimination, according to a report published today by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).

The PCA report, 'Stop and Search Complaints 2000-01', found that black people lodge four out of 10 complaints about police stop-and-search powers but only comprise one in 50 of the population.

And 19% of complainants alleged that they were subjected to racial discrimination during the interaction. Seven said that the decision to stop them was racially motivated.

White people made half of all complaints, and Asians, who make up 4% of the population, lodged 8% of stop and search complaints. Of all complaints considered, only one officer was prosecuted and found not guilty.

Two thirds (63%) of all complainants were unhappy with the manner in which the stop was conducted, the report found. Many reported the officers as being oppressive or uncivil towards them. Forty-four per cent of complainants alleged that they were assaulted during the stop or search incident, according to the research.

Black complainants were more likely to raise concerns about the officers' justification for stopping them than other ethnic groups. However, white complainants were twice as likely to be arrested as black complainants. They were also twice as likely to complain of assault, which may explain why their files were more likely to be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

In over a third of the cases reviewed, the initial stop resulted in arrest. The most common reasons were for public order offences, followed by drug offences, theft and traffic/drink-drive offences.

The study was piloted in 1999 - 2000 and then researchers Siobhan Havis and Dr David Best carried out an in-depth study of the first 100 stop and search complaint files received in 2000 -2001.

It showed that 85% of complaints came from men aged from 14 to 69 years, with a mean age of 31 years.

The police stops occurred initially because of: intelligence received (39%); suspicious behaviour (27%); traffic irregularities (26%); and routine or other (8%).

PCA Chairman Sir Alistair Graham said: "The Authority first drew attention to the disparity in the number of black people complaining about being stopped by police in 1995. Our study showed that whereas black people make 10% of complaints against police, in the main study they made 40% of complaints about stop and search powers.

"It surely reflects the black community's feelings of being unfairly targeted by these powers," he said.

Report co-author Dr Best called on the police service to improve the monitoring of the fairness and proportionality of stops and searches. The police service also needs to improve the recording of stops and searches, he said.

(gmcg)